Helping Police to be Gender-Sensitive in Pakistan

Women in Pakistan face a range of discriminatory and harmful practices that can threaten their security. In order to move towards gender equality, changes must be made across the criminal justice system, including to the structure, institutional culture and behaviour of the police. Increasing female police officers in stations, on its own, will not lead to greater gender sensitivity. It should also be complemented by addressing the inherent societal gender norms that reinforce male power within the police system. Saferworld has been working with police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on a gender-responsive policing project to ensure that they are better able to respond to crimes against women.